


Strength of Will

by dreamsheartstory



Series: The Things That Define Us [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Magic, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-04
Updated: 2014-09-04
Packaged: 2018-02-15 23:54:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2248107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsheartstory/pseuds/dreamsheartstory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby decides to channel her energy into painting to try to appease the wolf, things don't go as planned.<br/>_________________</p><p>It all started with <a href="http://tiffanyknowles.tumblr.com/post/95939111393%20">this</a>.</p><p>But then I wondered what would happen if Ruby couldn't change but the wolf still wanted to play?</p><p>This piece has fallen victim to the my fluff will never be purely fluff monster. (small warning for character injury)</p><p>Established Red Queen</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strength of Will

“I know it will be messy but I just want to try,” Ruby clasped her hands together and rocked from foot to foot. She tried not to smile, but one crept across her face anyway, her eyes lit up with excitement.

“Fine, but if you’re going to make a mess, you’re not using these.” Regina picked up the cheap Crayola water colors between two fingers. “We’ll get you proper paints.”

“It’s supposed to be calming,” she continued not really having heard Regina, as she paced trying to remember her list of reasons. “And therapeutic, and I need something else to focus on during the full moon, especially if, –oh, you mean, yes.” She reached out for Regina’s hand, bouncing on her heels. “Thank you. Thank you! I promise I’ll clean up after. You won’t even know I’ve taken over the den.”

Before Regina could change her mind Ruby bounded out of the living room to put on shoes so they could get to the store before nightfall. She had been looking for something to focus on during the full moon. With the curse breaking a second time she had stopped shifting, but she could still feel the wolf inside her. Every new moon her senses, already permanently heightened, flared. She could feel every heartbeat, every breath. Her skin would crawl with the wolf unable to be free.

The wolf would scratch at her insides, begging to be let go, and she was afraid it would tear her apart.

She had tried running, it helped, but her mind wandered too much and she could feel the wolf’s energy pent up insider her pushing her to the point of collapse. One month she and Regina only left their bed for food, and occasionally a less than cleansing shower, for four days. Another month she had scrubbed the diner from top to bottom; Granny almost had a heart attack. No matter what she did to try and feed the wolf, nothing seemed to be enough and each month it grew worse.

There had to be something she could do to alleviate the sensation that she would one day lose herself to the wolf, something that didn’t involve resorting to magic. She couldn’t risk Regina losing herself again to dark magic. Regina had struggled for too long to regain herself and find a way to make her strange little family work with Henry and Emma and Ruby. She wouldn’t let Regina loose her son again just to alleviate her struggle.

Ruby was running out of ideas but Belle had suggested she try creating something, that maybe manifesting the wolfstime energy into something physical or artistic would do more for her than just expending energy, however fun some of her attempts had been. She had latched onto the idea of painting. There was something visceral in pushing around wet paint, shaping, blending it into more than a splash of color. Maybe if she let the wolf lead her through paint and canvas it would stop trying to take her over. If she could channel the energy, maybe she would survive the storm that would hit at the apex of the full moon. Which is why she promised Regina she would clean up any mess. 

Wolfstime was always messy.

Any moveable furniture had been taken out of the room, the rest of the room, including the floor and much of the walls was covered in thick plastic. Ruby was taking no chances at permanently painting Regina’s house without her express permission. 

She set up her paints alongside the canvas on the floor. Bold colors she had picked on instinct. A few jars of water were lined up behind her, as well as a few rags to wipe her hands on. The sun had set on the first night of wolfstime and she could feel the wolf start to stir in the pit of her stomach. She could almost see its yellow eyes staring up at her, reminding her that for the next few days Red was in charge, the wolf, not the girl Ruby. Out of the darkness, the eyes found their place on the face of the wolf and Ruby could feel the wolf walk towards her, one padded foot at a time, closer to the surface.

Ruby swallowed visibly and pushed the thought away. She would find a way to control the wolf. If it couldn’t physically manifest, maybe it would be content to take over. It would stop trying to rip her apart.

Regina walked into the room, taking a moment to appreciate the view of Ruby in her white tank top and barely anything cutoff shorts. “I just wanted to see if you were all set up. I’ve got some work to do this evening.”

From where she sat on the floor Ruby beamed up at Regina. “Nearly, I think I need some music. And then I’m ready to get properly focused, with my proper paints. And, well, if I’ve got proper paints, and I’m doing this _properly,_ I’ll need a proper model,” Ruby mocked. She would have been happy with the old Crayola paints Henry had lent her but this would be much more satisfying.

She stood and slinked over to where Regina stood. She felt the wolf in her look up, aware of the other woman’s presence. The wolf liked Regina. It liked that Regina would let it take control, but only as long as Regina allowed. In the end, there was a part of the wolf that enjoyed submitting to Regina’s control. For now though the wolf wanted to take over, it wanted control. It wanted to taste and feel and run. It rushed forward trying to find its way to the edge of Ruby’s skin causing heat to pool low in Ruby’s abdomen. She felt the brush of fur on the inside.

Ruby’s last step faltered and the shorter woman reached out to catch her, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just thinking about… later.” Ruby smiled and bit her lip as she looked down and away, pushing the wolf back, not wanting the shorter woman to see the half-lie in her eyes. The wolf bristled, but backed down for a moment. 

Ruby reached out to straighten the collar on Regina’s shirt, “After you’re done with work, I’ll probably be awfully dirty,” she let a finger travel down to the first button and deftly flicked it open, her finger continued it’s trailing descent just barely brushing flesh. The wolf made her bolder. “I’ll probably need your help cleaning up.” She leaned forward and captured Regina’s lips with hers.

“I think that can be arranged.” Regina exhaled grabbing Ruby’s hands with her own, keeping the slender fingers from undoing any more buttons and any more of her resolve. “You should start your little experiment before it gets too late. Come find me if the wolf gets to be too much.” She reached up on tip toe to place a kiss on the taller woman’s forehead.

“I still say I need a proper model, why don’t you bring your work down here? You can be my muse.”

“What, you’re going to paint me working?”

“Something like that,” Ruby cocked her head to the side before walking away purposefully swaying her hips with each step. 

Wordlessly she moved a chair back into the room and carefully covered it in plastic. Each move was calculated to catch Regina’s eye as she bent and stretched in the too short cutoffs. Ruby could feel the other woman’s eyes on her as she reached down to tuck the end of the plastic under the chair. With legs straight she arched her back to stand up. The wolf was taking over, and it wanted Regina to stay even more than Ruby did. Looking over her shoulder she saw that the other woman was watching her with rapt attention. Deep within her Ruby felt the wolf take several predatory steps forward. It lifted it’s nose scenting for Regina. The smile that spread across Ruby’s face was wild and a little hungry.

Stepping carefully over her canvas and paints she settled down onto the floor again. Ruby ran her hands over the colors, trying to decide where to begin. Reds, oranges, blues and blacks were the predominant colors. She let her fingers trail over the tubes, trying to will the wolf to make a choice. Whether or not Regina stayed she would need to focus and paint. Maybe this would be the month the wolf didn’t win. 

Reaching up behind her head she coaxed her hair into a messy bun. The wolf padded around inside Ruby, uncomfortably restrained. “Oh, I understand girl,” she muttered under her breath. The wolf settled down with an almost human like ‘humph’ as the girl reached out for one of the blues. Twisting the cap she pushed a dollop of the thick paint onto her fingers. She rubbed her fingertips together spreading the viscous liquid and staining her fingers a shade of blue rarely found in nature.

She pressed her fingers onto the rough canvas and started to fill in the background. The slick paint ran over the hatched surface, soaking in and coming to life. There was something satisfying in pressing the oily paint across the dry expanse of canvas. With each new color blended in Ruby could feel herself calm and settle into the sensory experience. The canvas she had started with was large, as she worked her way up, she found herself accidentally placing a knee or thigh in wet paint. 

Tonight would be messy indeed.

Ruby hardly noticed when Regina came back a little bit later having changed into an old blue camisole and a ragged pair of black running shorts that skimmed the tops of her thighs. The wolf, however, noticed Regina’s return. It stirred from its resting place, looking up, which caused Ruby to look up and drink in the sight of the woman she had come to love. They were unlikely, but there was no denying the bond that had grown as they helped each other rebuild. Regina had been instrumental in helping Ruby control the wolf when the curse first broke and Ruby had helped Regina in turn when dark magic threatened to turn her back into the Evil Queen. The wolf was not so sentimental. The wolf respected Regina but also made the part of Ruby that was Red thirst and lust for her in a way Ruby didn’t understand. The wolf could never have enough of former queen.

Paint dripped from Ruby’s fingers and landed on the canvas splattering streaks of red across the blue and black. She leaned forward, absentmindedly placing a hand in the scarlet pigment, the wolf straining to be closer to the other woman. A low growl escaped her throat. 

Regina looked up from where she had curled in the chair, her bare feet neatly tucked under her, papers stacked neatly on the arm of the chair, a pen between her teeth. She raised an eyebrow and wondered if she would need to help subdue the wolf tonight. Regina wanted to fix the broken magic that cursed Ruby, even if that meant her lover had to turn furry once a month. Trying to focus on city reports while the other woman fought an internal war broke her heart, but she wanted to respect Ruby’s wishes to fight this battle alone. So when she had asked her to stay tonight, perhaps that had been an olive branch.

Ruby fought to push down the wolf, to make it behave. She grabbed for another tube of paint and turned her attention back to the sensation of thick wet paint on the rough canvas. How her fingers slid together through the fluid, her nails catching on the textured surface. She held herself over the length of the canvas, painting the far end, worrying the paint into the fabric. Shifting her weight she set her knee in a glob of paint she had dropped earlier. Sitting back on her heels she tried to wipe the paint off her knee with her paint covered fingers. It only served to spread the color around as she became distracted by the sensation of paint slick skin on smooth paint slick skin, only occasionally interrupted by a short hair or imperfection. The changing texture had her rubbing the paint over her knee and down her leg, reveling in the sensation.

“I thought you were going to paint the canvases, not yourself,” Regina said. 

Ruby looked up at the other woman through heavy lidded eyes, her mouth slightly parted. She blinked deliberately, and blushed, shaking her head. “I–“ she started. She looked down at her left knee which was now covered in swirls of blue and purple and red. “It felt good,” she admitted. “The wolf liked it.” As if on cue the wolf seemed to nuzzle her from the inside, sending the girl sprawling forward over the canvas. She looked up at Regina from her position on all fours, and for a moment the mayor would have sworn Ruby’s eyes had been yellow.

Looking away, Ruby pushed the wolf back down, reminding it that they were there to paint, to create, not to fuck, not to eat. For a while, the wolf complied, letting Ruby play with the slick wetness of the paint, creating an abstract painting interrupted and smudged by handprints and footprints. Knowing that the first canvas was finished, Ruby sat back to admire her work, which turned into admiring Regina who was curled over a stack of papers and occasionally making notes in the margins.

Hands, knees, and feet still damp with paint she pushed her way to standing and carefully made her way across the plastic covered floor, a wicked smile placed on her lips. Her muse, while bookishly enticing was not what Ruby wanted right now. She felt the need to pose Regina.

Ruby placed a blue finger underneath Regina’s chin, lifting her face. With her other hand she reached for the stack of papers Regina held.  
“No! You’re covered in paint, and these are important,” Regina pulled the papers away from Ruby’s reach and held them out behind her.

Ruby’s voice was low, “I though we agreed, only paint safe things in this room tonight. You should put them away before something happens. I want my muse,” She touched Regina’s forehead with her index finger and let it trail down to the end of her nose. Gently she gripped the other woman’s chin between her thumb and forefinger, bringing their mouths together in a soft kiss. As she pulled back she ran a finger in a straight line underneath Regina’s eyes and across the bridge of her nose. War paint.

“Are you painting me?” Regina asked.

Ruby grinned, having been caught, “Are you going to stop me?”

The shorter woman stood up, forcing Ruby to take a step back. Despite being smaller in stature she walked the wolf-girl backwards towards the paints, papers and work forgotten. They stayed inches apart as they crossed the room. When they stopped Regina used the front of Ruby to brace herself as she bent down to retrieve a tube of paint. With her free hand she hooked a finger under the wide waistband of the jean shorts and tugged, pulling the taller woman closer, ending any distance between them. She snaked her arms behind Ruby and she lifted up on tip toe to kiss her.

Regina licked Ruby’s lips and they parted, allowing her tongue entrance. Their mouths pressed together, tongues caressing and exploring. Hands stroked up and down sides, finding their way under shirts and bras. A twist of a nipple, a squeeze of a breast. Ruby reached a hand between them, working her fingers underneath the loose band of Regina’s shorts, slipping them underneath the lacy underwear. Her fingers began to stroke the wetness between Regina’s legs causing her to gasp.

Ruby had momentarily forgotten the paint, lost in the kiss and the feeling of Regina moving against her hand, but the other woman had not. She worked the cap off the paint and squeezed a small amount onto her fingertips. She placed a staccato kiss on the other’s lips and pulled back. Ruby’s eyes were still half closed as Regina painted a line from her forehead to the tip of her nose and across her cheeks, matching the paint on Regina’s face, some of which had smudged in the kiss. Ruby yelped as the cold paint touched her. She shot Regina a look of mocking look of shock. Regina merely shrugged her shoulders as if to say you started it.

Ruby pulled her in for another kiss. The blue paint on Regina’s face smeared and mixed with the orange paint on Ruby’s. Slipping her hands under the edge of Regina’s camisole, she pulled it upward, only breaking their kiss at the last moment so she could remove the shirt. She quickly removed her own before wiggling out of her shorts, and ridding the other woman of hers. “More skin, means more to paint.” She placed a line of kisses from navel to collar bone. “Lay down.”

Normally Regina didn’t take many orders, but there was something in Ruby’s voice that reminded her the wolf was peeking through. Her voice was low and rough and tightened things low in Regina’s stomach. She leaned forward and placed a trail of bruising kisses down Ruby’s body that followed her descent to the floor. She could see Ruby breaking through Red’s control as she teased her in the way the taller woman bit her lip and smiled almost shyly. Though the smile turned predatory and her eyes clouded when she reached the floor and stretched out on the plastic already slick with paint. 

Kneeling between her legs, the taller woman reached for the tubes of paint, moving them closer to her new canvas. She looked up, tracing every curve of Regina clad only in matching white bra and panties. Using the floor as a painters pallet, Ruby squirted several colors at the edge of arms reach. She started behind her, drawing multicolored swirls up Regina’s legs, pausing to place a row of dots along her panty line. She continued the swirling pattern across her torso and down her arms, taking her time and letting the slick paint draw her finger tips across the other woman’s skin. She traced each curve of flesh, each exposed bone and joint. The higher up she worked the more she had to lean over Regina, holding herself up with one hand in a push up position, while the other traced the patterns. Their hips were close enough that they could both feel heat building between them. With each stroke she could feel the other woman writhe beneath her. As she switched sides Ruby let her hips dip and grind against Regina’s carefully, doing her best to avoid the transfer of paint.

Regina’s eyes fluttered closed, reveling in the feeling of Ruby’s paint slick fingers slipping across her skin, tracing the hollow above her collar bone, and before leaving a lingering mark between her breasts.

Ruby sat back to admire her work, still perched between Regina’s legs. The other woman whimpered at the loss of contact; the wolf felt pleased. After a moment Ruby frowned, but it was quickly replaced by a wicked grin as she coated the palms of her hands in paint. Regina sat halfway up, propped on her elbows, watching Ruby paint rainbows on her hand. In a decisive movement Ruby moved forward and cupped Regina’s breasts in her hands, and gave them a small squeeze, before moving back and appreciate her work once more: rainbow handprints on the white lace. 

She reached down between Regina’s legs, palming the other woman’s sex and grinding the heel of her hand against her clit, “There, done.” She removed her hand watched eyelids flutter. 

Watching Regina melt into her touch fascinated Ruby. She was the kind of woman who could walk into a room and command attention without a single word. She was the kind of woman who had once been so lost in her own pain that she had cursed an entire kingdom. She was a queen. She was also the kind of woman who loved fiercely and was selfless in the way she gave. To have the ability to elicit such intimate reactions excited her. It also pleased the wolf who had begun to stir again, brushing against Ruby’s insides, not yet demanding release, but reminding the woman of who was in charge tonight. 

Ruby swallowed down the rising wolf and took in every inch of Regina covered in paint. She cocked her head to the side, contemplating the lazy swirls of red fading into orange, to yellow, to green, to blue and back to purple and red. Circles of solid color where she couldn’t bear to let even an inch of skin go untouched. Her love spelled out in touches, and made visible in vibrant color. She found herself smiling, genuinely content.

“It hardly seems right that only one of us is covered head to toe in paint,” Regina couldn’t help but smile up at Ruby who seemed all to pleased with her art project. 

The taller woman pressed forward, leaving Regina no choice but to lay back down. As she did, Ruby followed, holding herself just above Regina, but not touching. “What are you going to do about it?” Her tongue darted out and licked the other woman’s cheek before encircling her earlobe and sucking it into her mouth.

“Well, to start,” Regina began as she pulled Ruby to her and flipped them over. She pressed her body against the taller woman’s, bracing herself on the floor as their skin slipped over each others, wet with paint, eliciting a gasp from both of them.

“That’s not fair!” Ruby shrieked with a laugh.

“Oh, honey, who said anything about fair?” She brought up her hands, palms covered in paint and traced the shape of Ruby’s face. “That’s better.”

Ruby reached out for fresh paint and slid her hands across the other woman’s exposed torso, letting the paint act as a lubricant. She pushed them into a sitting position. Regina’s hands were working on Ruby’s thighs, coating the skin in paint. Each tried to cover the other, pinning them down, only to be flipped over, or distracted by a kiss as another attack was planned. They wrestled, sliding on the paint slick plastic covered floor, touching, caressing, squeezing. Twisting and tangled together they fought for dominance.

The wolf’s excitement grew. As Ruby pinned Regina down she felt an overwhelming desire to taste every inch of her skin. “Next time we get edible paints,” she growled. With one hand she held the shorter woman in place while she reached for a cloth and dampened it in a jar of water. Their play turned from painting to cleaning. Each patch of skin exposed was licked and sucked and kissed. The wolf wanted to play. Ruby felt it push at her skin, taking over and pushing Regina down causing her to whimper in pleasure and submit. She paused, her mouth on the other woman’s neck. She nipped gently at the pulse point there, teeth feeling the beat of her love’s heart. The wolf wanted her to bite down. 

It wanted blood.

Frantically Ruby crawled backwards, needing to get away from the feeling of Regina’s pounding heart beat, from the smell of blood just beneath skin. The wolf growled and fought her. She closed her eyes, coming onto all fours, her breath heavy. Ruby willed the wolf back down away from the surface, controlling every urge to lunge forward. She collapsed, a sob escaping her throat. The wolf stopped pushing forward. Ruby tried to dig her fingers into the floor, but the slick paint covered plastic made it impossible to grip anything.

Regina reached out tentatively, but Ruby shied back. She began muttering no over and over. Not wanting to believe what the wolf wanted and not wanting to let her body fulfill the wolf’s wishes. Each time the wolf tried to push her forward she sunk lower onto the ground, until she was laying prostrate before Regina. 

Waiting for the other woman to calm she felt her neck where Ruby had bit down. The flesh was warm and angry, and would certainly be marked come morning. Normally she wouldn’t think anything of it. Their sex was often heated and rough, but there was something about the wolf coming through tonight that had scared Ruby and had Regina worried. She reached out again and placed a gentle hand on the other woman’s head, letting it trail down to her ear where she gave a little scratch. They sat there like that for a while with Regina smoothing Ruby’s hair until Ruby’s breathing evened out.

“Come on, let’s go get cleaned up.” Regina said as she coaxed Ruby to standing and picked her up. The taller woman wrapped her legs around her waist and nodded solemnly, leaning down to place a chaste kiss on the other woman’s lips.

“Ruby?” Regina pulled away, “Your eyes are yellow.” She held onto the taller woman, as she watched an internal struggle play out on Ruby’s face: anger, hunger, pain, lust, fear until finally Ruby’s eyes faded back to their normal brown.

Ruby could feel the wolf inside her. It wanted out. She could feel it running up the path from wherever it rested and throw itself against her skin. She felt the wolf’s fur rub just beneath her surface. It nipped at her, fighting against the human shaped cage. Ruby clung tighter to Regina, afraid that if she let go she would lose any grip she had on this world. Afraid that the wolf would win.

She screamed. 

Ruby’s eyes went wide and wild, the whites nearly encircling each iris. Slowly, Regina knelt again and laid her down gently, trying not to jar the her, but each movement caused her to cry out again. The wolf-girl curled up and clutched at her head trying to keep the searing pain from shattering her. 

“Ruby, what’s happening?” The mayor leaned over the other woman at a loss of what to do. Her hands hovered helplessly above Ruby. She was afraid to touch her in case touch might set off another round of screams.

“The wolf wants out,” Ruby breathed. Involuntarily she arched her back as pain spasmed through her. The skin on her stomach started to roll, as if something else was moving inside of her. Four points, along an arc, pressed out and scratched diagonal lines across the younger woman’s stomach, leaving red lines on her skin visible as the dried paint came off in flecks. 

She screamed again, a blood curdling sound that set Regina’s teeth on edge. “Go. Save yourself, if I change,” Ruby threw her head back and cried out in pain. “I don’t want you to be here for that. If I… If–“ She turned away from the other woman, no longer able to meet her eyes. She had, the wolf had, eaten someone she loved once before. It had been so long since she had shifted that she was afraid what might happen if she did. Though, given how much she wanted to pull Regina to her and bite down, she wasn’t sure her not changing left the woman any safer.

“I don’t think you can change and I’m not leaving you,” she said softly. Taking a clean rag, she dipped it in a glass of water as started to clean Ruby off. Her body felt feverish as if in its effort to escape the wolf was burning her up. The scratches across her abdomen were real, tiny drops of blood beaded on her skin. Beneath her hands the flesh began to move again, she felt something solid push against her palm. Ruby held back another scream, whimpering in pain, her eyes tight shut as if she could block it all out if she only willed it.

Ruby could see the wolf, pacing impatiently, lashing out. She had denied it for too long, what Ruby wanted and what the wolf wanted were different. Often their desires overlapped, but not tonight. Tonight Ruby had refused the wolf and she was paying the price.

“I’m going to try magic,” Regina said. “To see if we can quell this beast.”

“No! Regina, it’s too much of a risk.” Ruby opened her eyes, “I won’t risk you losing yourself.”

“I won’t just sit here and watch this thing kill you.”

“It won’t, it needs me. And this will pass, right? The sun will come up and the wolf will go to sleep– ahhhhhh!” Ruby screamed, gritting her teeth. Another set of claw marks pushed through her skin leaving blood red lines across her heart. She started to convulse. Regina moved to straddle her, to hold her still as she shook. Ruby’s eyes rolled back in her head and the spasms stopped. She was unnaturally still for a moment, but her breath came again.

Regina let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, “Ruby!” She wanted to shake her, to see her open her eyes, but she was afraid it would wake the wolf, or cause another seizure. At least she was still breathing. 

Gently she laid a kiss on Ruby’s forehead, letting her lips linger there, her eyes closed. She felt tears well up and spill out, dropping into the other woman’s hair. Every month since Ruby stopped shifting she had worried that something would happen. That if the wolf couldn’t escape and run that it would take Ruby down. There was something different about magic in this land, something that broke and twisted the curse that caused Ruby to change into a wolf. Being cursed and recursed had confounded the normal order of things. This was worse than anything she had let herself imagine.

She should move, call the hospital. But she couldn’t bring herself to break contact with Ruby. If she moved she would have to process how utterly wrong this night had gone. Instead she cried into her love’s hair and hoped that they would find a way to save her before the wolf could kill her.

“Regina?” Ruby’s voice was weak. “Is that…? Are you crying?”

She opened her eyes slowly, a white glow enveloped them both. White magic. She had only used white magic once before to defeat her sister and since she had sworn off all attempts at any kind of magic lest she be corrupted again. But this wasn’t something she had meant to do. This was something pure that had been born out of hope and love and desperation. It had sprung unbidden and unnoticed until she opened her eyes.

Ruby could feel the wolf inside her, but it was calmly waiting in the place where it slept. The white magic had pushed it back, reminding it that it was not in charge, that if it wanted to live it couldn’t destroy its human. From time to time she could feel a small worried nuzzle. The white magic had calmed its hunger and sated its desires, at least for tonight. 

Regina pressed her mouth to Ruby’s, willing her relief into something manageable. “I’ve quelled your wolf with white magic and all you can ask is if I’m crying. Yes I am, you beautiful idiot. Why didn’t you tell me being unable to change was getting worse?” The white light began to fade, leaving the reality of what had happened behind. Bruises blossomed across Ruby’s torso and the scratches were still seeping blood though thankfully were not deep.

“It’s never been… like this. The wolf has never hurt me. The wolf wanted to eat you, but you saved me.” Ruby looked away, unable to meet the other woman’s gaze. She would never have been able to forgive herself is she hadn’t been able to resist the wolf. “Thank you… are you okay?”

Regina sat up pulling Ruby with her and gathering her into her lap. “You don’t want to eat me now, do you?”

Ruby shook her head no and buried her face against Regina’s shoulder. “The wolf isn’t gone, but she’s calmed down. I think she’s trying to apologize.” 

“It did almost kill you.” Regina’s fingers played in Ruby’s hair, her thumb rubbing the spot just behind her right ear. Ruby clung as tightly as her tired muscles would allow. They sat on the floor intertwined for a long while taking comfort in the physical contact and the simple act of breathing. Neither wanted to risk moving and breaking the calm spell that had settled over them, but the paint was drying and itchy.

“Let’s go clean up,” Ruby said, standing shakily. 

Regina followed, placing her hands on Ruby’s hips and guiding her up the stairs to the shower. Only breaking contact for brief moments she ran the water in the shower to warm it up and pulled off the last of her paint covered clothes then helped Ruby do the same. She folded her arms around the taller woman, her head tilted up to place a gentile kiss on the other woman’s lips. “Tomorrow–“

“We’ll worry about tomorrow tomorrow,” Ruby said. She grabbed Regina’s hand and walked backwards towards the shower, “Right now I need you.” 


End file.
